Hellcat News, (Kirkland, Wash.), Vol. 31, No. 3, Ed. 1, December 1976 Page: 2 of 19
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"How a Unit Rep gets it done"
(What is it??)
Armored
ArMbry
KENNETH BRADSTREET A/494th
1018 Prairie Street
Emporia, KS. 66801
BOOSTERS
Robert Koller [B]
Eugene R. Blumenshine [Hq]
Once again the Autumn winds are
blowing across the land and the colors of
the season are beautiful. It is a reminder
that each and every Hellcat who has not
sent in his dues should do so now! The
HCN has taken on a new look and to be
without it each month would be a shame,
so get those dues in the mail today. The
494th is leading the Association in
membership at the present time, but
don't sit back, the other units are playing
catch-up and are to be reckoned with!!!
Lee Baird (Hq) sent his dues and
news. He apologized for missing the
reunion, but due to Mrs. Baird being ill,
they were unable to attend. They are
hoping to make Philly and see all the
gang again. Lee is a truck driver for
Time-D.C. running between Denver and
Goodland. He has been a trucker for
Time for 27 years and that is a lot of road
time! Guess it was that 12th Armored
training on wheels!!
The Bairds' have five children, a
married daughter in Denver, a married
daughter in Charleston, S.C., a daughter
who is a sophomore at Bob Jones
University in Greenville, S.C., a
daughter still at home and a son who is a
pharmacist in Gilroy, Calif. The Bairds'
have four grandchildren. During the
Korean crisis, Lee spent two years in
Korea.
I sent a couple Reunion pictures to Lee
and he made these comments; "Those
guys have not changed much! Tommy is
thinner than he used to be, and Big
Smith, you would know him anywhere!
Yuhas has not changed a bit except for
some grey hair." Now if any of you guys
have any comments, get a card in the
mail to Lee.
Bernard and Ruth Deaton (Divarty)
wrote to say that they had a good time at
the reunion and that anyone who has not
attended a reunion does not know what
they missed! They have also been doing
their homework and have located two
more missing Hellcats. One of them is
James Nelson of B Btry, his address is
Rte. 1, Hardy, Va. 24101. Remember
Bernard was the tall distinguished
looking gentleman in the Marine dress
uniform at the banquet. Thanks, folks,
you are true Hellcats!
John Pado (Hq) says that he had a real
good time at the reunion and that he will
be in Philly for sure. He sends sad news
that one of our 494th buddies Walter
Hudzik of Headquarters Battery
suffered a coronary attack and passed
away on August 20th. We send our
deepest sympathy to the Hudzik family,
Walt was a good buddy and friend to all
who knew him.
Mrs. Pado has been in the hospital
with severe back problems and we hope
that she is recovering quickly and that
she will soon be back in good health.
We of the 494th express our deep
sorrow in learning of the death of
General Carlos Brewer. He was our
leader and we were honored by his
presence at our Artillery dinner in
Springfield. Our heartfelt sympathy to
his wife, Mary and his family.
Joe Stankunas (A) represented the
12th Armored Division at the funeral of
the General and we thank him for his
consideration. Joe is still looking for
some pictures of the reunion, so let him
know if you have some.
By the way, we still need more
pictures for the battalion albums, both
old pictures and reunion pictures. If you
have any that you would like to donate
please send them to me. (Ken.)
On a recent trip to South Dakota, I
stopped in Watertown to visit a few
minutes with Don Coombes (B). I was
sorry to hear that Dee was in the
hospital suffering from a heart attack.
We hope that Dee is recovering and is up
and around again. Don and I had a short
but pleasant visit and he looks like he is
in good shape and can still go a few
rounds. He is still the same Don and
would like to hear from his buddies in B
Btry.
My mailman is in mightly rough shape
again and says that in his estimation the
world will soon be a bad place to live. He
bases this on the amount of mail he
carries (excluding junk mail) and says
that his education is going to pot due to
the fact that the 494th has quit writing
(please help him, he gets so much out of
reading those cards and looking at the
stamps and postmarks!!) He is of the
opinion that it won't be long before the
post office will be closed here and he will
be out of a job, so help him out and write
to your Unit Rep and help us both out!!!
We still need a Battery Secretary in
Headquarters Battery, so why not write
and volunteer? It does not hurt and is
enjoyable so why not try it?
Headquarters needs you!!!
Joe and Irene Maji (Hq) were very
busy after the reunion making plans and
getting things in order for their
daughters wedding October 15th. Our
congratulations to the newly weds! Joe
says he will be getting back in the
writing groove soon.
Eliot and Florence Gilchrist (A) were
surprised by a visit from Julian and
Lucille Langseth and daughter Mary the
first week in October. Eliot says that
they had a very pleasant afternoon
together. He was planning his big game
hunting trip at the time he wrote this
letter, hope you did well, Eliot!
Walt and Glenice Keith (C) wrote a
long newsy letter. Said they had a great
time at the reunion and enjoyed seeing
all the gang again. They had a visit from
George and Lois Varga the first week in
October. They surprised Jim Moulder
with a call and had a nice chat with him.
They had a visit from Paul Cooke in the
latter part of September. Paul had an
operation and was not able to make it to
the reunion, but wanted to hear all about
it. He asked about a lot of the guys and
where the reunion would be in '77, when
he was told it would be in Philly, he said
he would be there and would get Hy
Nanni there too. Sounds like C will be
out in force in 77.
This is your column, but without your
letters, it becomes no column! Write and
tell us about your comings and goings,
your family, your gripes, your pleasures
and let us share them with you. It is a
year between reunions and that is too
long without contact between buddies.
Face it — even though we feel younger
each day, the fact is that time is
marching on and each day is a precious
part of our lives as buddies of thirty odd
years. A postcard costs little but means
a lot to your buddy!!!
VETERANS' BILLBOARD
by Joe Stankunas
A/494th
EXPERIMENTAL GI BILL: Starting
in January the U.S. Gov't will put up $2
for every $1 a GI pays into an
educational fund when he enters the
service. Those who join the armed
services now will not be eligible to
wartime benefits. Veterans in school
now will get 8% increase considered as
cost of living. Nine months more in
further benefits to help with graduate
school.
UNIONIZING AMERICA'S ARMED
FORCES: What to do? (a) Write to the
President NOW, setting forth your
opposition, (b) When Congress recon-
venes after the general election, call for
the prompt enactment of Sen.
Thurmond's S. 3079 and Rep. G.V.
"Sonny" Montgomery's companion piece,
H.R. 12691, by writing your Senators
and your Congressman. TOGETHER
WE WILL MAKE IT! (F.P. Jones, Col.,
USA (Ret.), Director National Security
and Foreign Affairs; VFW of the USA)
PRESIDENT ELECT: Would check
with the general public, he would
discover that the public does not trust
the Soviets to carry out their duties in
any agreement, and the record of the
past 50 years supports the public's view,
as do the recent revelations of USSR
violations of SALT 1.
PRESIDENT ELECT JIMMY
CARTER: Would check with the general
public, he would discover that the public
does not trust the Soviets to carry out
their duties in any agreement, and the
record of the past 50 years supports the
public's view, as do the recent
revelations of USSR violations of SALT
1.
RUNAWAY INFLATION IN
AMERICA?: The 1933 dollar is today
worth just 23 cents. And it's still falling!
In the past 40 years, consumer prices
rose by 344 percent! In the last two
years, TIME and NEWSWEEK jumped
50 percent. Coca-Cola by 100 percent. A
shoe shine 80 percent. A McDonald's
cheeseburger by 35 percent. Cigarettes
by 31 percent. Clearly this is inflation
running out of control.
SOVIET NAVY: Was principally a
coastal defense force. Since then, the
Soviets have built more than 1,400 ships,
giving them a first-class, blue-water
Navy. In 1965 they had a few dozen
primitive submarine ballistic missile
launch tubes. Today they have amassed
800 submarine launch tubes.
QUESTION: I was recently honorably
discharged from service after serving
two years on active duty. I have not
completed high school. Can I complete
high school and continue in a vocational
program?
ANSWER: Eligible veterans can
complete their high school training with
no charge against entitlement. They may
then use their entitlement for further
training as desired.
QUESTION: I used my GI loan to
purchase my present home. I have a
veteran who wants to purchase my home
and assume my GI loan. If I do this, can
my entitlement be restored?
ANSWER: Yes, if the purchaser is a
veteran who has entitlement to a GI loan
and agrees to substitute the same
amount of his or her entitlement as was
used on your loan and the purchaser is
approved by the VA as to income and
credit.
QUESTION: I am medically retired from
military service. I intend to buy $10,000
of disabled veterans (RH) insurance
coverage. Does this affect my right to
buy Veterans Group Life Insurance
coverage in the amount of $20,000?
ANSWER: No. Coverage under USGLI
policies and NSLI policies (including RH
policies) is generally limited to $10,000,
but this does not limit concurrent
coverage under SGLI, VGLI, or VMLI,
provided you are otherwise eligible for
these programs.
NEW STATEGIC BOMBER: The B-l
has demonstrated in the laboratory, on
the plant floor, and now in the air that it
can do the job demanded of it. The
flexibility, controllability and mobility
that makes the manned bomber such a
valuable asset. Support the B-l by
letting your President and Congress
know how you feel about getting the
program under way. The B-l is the right
solution.
SALT II: Forget it! The agreement
proposes consessions to the Soviets.
These involve limiting the range of the
U.S. Cruise Missile and classifying the
Soviet Backfire as a tactical weapon.
They have at least 50 Backfires in their
inventory, and production is at a rate of
25 per year.
$40 BILLION: The Communist
Satellites and the USSR have run up
debts to the United States, West
Germany and other Western countries
that will amount up to $40 billion. When
is this going to stop?
FIRST ORDER FOR THE 95th
CONGRESS: Reduction of 32 to 16
Committees are planned in Congress
under S. Res. 109. The purpose is to
reduce the current committees down.
Veterans' Housing is to be placed in the
Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
Committee, the rest of the "Veterans'
Programs" will be placed in the Human
Resources Committee. Don't let it
happen, together we can lick them, so let
your Senators know how you feel about
dividing up the Veterans' Affairs
Committee, as the first resolution that
you have in 1977, it's a MUST.
FEDERAL LAW: Requires equal
employment for Vets. Coverage:
Employers with a contract or
subcontract to provide federal govern-
ment $10,000 or more of personal
property or nonpersonal services,
including construction. (1) Disabled
veterans, those with at least 30 percent
disability compensation; and (2) those
discharged from active duty because of
disability received or aggravated in the
line of duty. Vietnam-era veterans.
Covered for a 4-year period beginning
from date of discharge, provided that
they served some part of the 4-years
during Vietnam era. August 5, 1964 and
ended May 7, 1975.
WESTERN STATES CHAPTER
In the July issue of HCN, we
requested that Hellcats tell us of their
choices for the Reunion in 1977 on
Memorial Day weekend. We received
three responses.
Early in August, a postcard survey
was sent to 243 members with a
response deadline of August 20. The
majority were received by Sept. 1, but a
few trickled in as late as October 15. We
received 102 responses or about 42%.
San Francisco was first, followed by
Portland, but by only one vote.
No one offered to be chairman except
one member for San Francisco and that
was conditional because of family
responsibilities.
An ad hoc Executive Committee split
its vote and two out of six didn't respond
at all. At La Jolla, we had agreed that
the Northwest, probably Portland,
should be next because most reunions
have been in California.
We need a chairman to make
arrangements. Won't someone volunteer
to contact a hotel? Ill do all the mailing.
Ahoy, Oregonians?
Please telephone, telegraph or write
me, Bob Schwartz, 4345 Purdue Ave.,
Los Angeles, Calif. 90066.
(Those members who couldn't return
the self-addressed, stamped postcard,
are being deleted from the Chapter
mailing list. The HCN will carry
announcements)
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Twelfth Armored Division Association (U.S.). Hellcat News, (Kirkland, Wash.), Vol. 31, No. 3, Ed. 1, December 1976, newspaper, December 1976; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth410055/m1/2/?q=%22~1~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.